Dubas sells at deadline, vows to return Penguins to contention

Anthony Beauvillier lived a nomadic existence throughout the 2023-24 season.

Suiting up for three teams (the Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators), he was traded on two occasions. In each instance, he was dealt for ho-hum fifth-round draft picks.

And again, this season, he was on the move at the NHL’s trade deadline Friday.

This time, the Pittsburgh Penguins were able to fetch an intriguing second-round pick in 2025 from the Washington Capitals for the steady but hardly spectacular middle-six winger.

Such was the environment Penguins management was able to thrive in leading up to the deadline as they operated with the future in mind.

That is to say it was a seller’s market, and the Penguins sold at good rates.

In addition to Beauvillier, they traded:

• Defenseman Luke Schenn to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for a second-rounder (2026) and a fourth-rounder (2027). (The Penguins acquired Schenn from the Predators as part of a larger trade Wednesday, essentially in exchange for a fourth-rounder in 2026, before flipping him.)

• NHL forward Cody Glass and minor-league forward Jonathan Gruden to the New Jersey Devils for forward prospects Chase Stillman and Max Graham as well as a third-rounder (2027).

The only deal the Penguins were buyers in saw them add reserve forward Connor Dewar and defenseman Conor Timmins from the Maple Leafs in exchange for a fifth-rounder (2025).

All of Friday’s moves as well as Wednesday’s trade — and seemingly every other trade they’ve made in the past 12 months — have been geared toward boosting the team’s future hopes for regaining its status as a Stanley Cup contender while Sidney Crosby as well as other luminaries are still in the franchise’s employ.

“We’re going to survey the landscape as urgently as we can each day to find moves that can best help propel the team ahead,” general manager Kyle Dubas said Friday in Cranberry. “If there aren’t moves available, we will execute on these picks with our personnel staff … to make sure we’re bringing the best young talent that we can. How it lines up with the older players, all I can give is my pledge that we are going through everything we can to attempt to have them all have one last chance, or multiple, depending on how long they play.”